Page 226 - Chinese Works of Art Chritie's Mar. 22-23 2018

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF ERWIN HARRIS
930
A BRONZE TWO-PART BELT HOOK
WITH CHAINS
NORTH OR NORTHWEST CHINA,
5TH CENTURY BC
Each half of the ensemble is in the form of a
feline, its head turned to look at the other as it
crouches on a bar formed by the rigid body of a
serpent which has two loops below from which
are suspended linked chains. The extended tail
of one feline terminates in a bird’s head hook, and
each has a small stud projecting from the back.
Together with a similarly dated bronze feline-form
belt hook, which is cast as a feline crouching on
two serpents with pebbled bodies, the one issuing
from the mouth of the feline biting the tail of the
other as it bites the feline’s tail. The hook is formed
by an animal gripping the closest serpent in its
jaws and claws. A small stud projects from the
back and a single loop extends from the bottom of
the rear serpent.
2√ and 2º (7.3 and 5.7 cm.) wide;
4 in. (10.2 cm.) wide
(3)
$4,000-6,000

PROVENANCE
Tiger belt-hook: Christie’s New York, 10 December
1987, lot 9.
Pair with chains: Dr. Ping Yiu Tam Collection, Hong
Kong.
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 1993.
All: The Erwin Harris Collection, Miami, Florida.
The two-part belt fastener is similar to one
lacking chains illustrated in Ancient Chinese
Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Japan, 1989, pl.
231. See, also, the similar example illustrated by
J. F. So and E. C. Bunker, Traders and Raiders
on China’s Northern Frontier, Washington D. C.,
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1995, pp. 175-76, no.
102, which was subsequently sold at Christie’s
New York, 16 March 2017, lot 828.
公元前五世紀 青銅帶鉤

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